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Income inequality in the united states essay
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More handpicked essays just for you.
Income inequality in the united states essay
The american dream opions
Socioeconomic class american dream
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Although the American economy is improving from the great recession , the middle class is shrinking, a problem for a consumerist based economy where the middle class makes up the consumerists. Every industry has a place in today’s world, however some industries are losing importance while others
Paul Krugman author of the article “Confronting Inequality” stresses the inequality of our social classes in the United States, he uses statistics to demonstrate the staggering consequences of this inequality within our social classes. Krugman emphasizes the fact that a majority of our wealth is owned by about one percent of the population, which is leaving the middle and lower class at an extreme disadvantage. One example Krugman uses is education; children that have wealthy families, have a higher percentage of finishing college than those of lower income families, proving the statement that Krugman was accentuating, “Class-inherited class- usually trumps talent.” The parents within this middle to lower class have been exceed their financial
As McAdam and Kloos write, “the country is now more starkly divided in political terms than at any time since the end of Reconstruction and more unequal in material terms than roughly a century ago and greater, even, than on the eve of the Great Depression” (McAdam and Kloos 4). An increase in inequality has only given rise to protest groups such as Occupy Wall St that protested the rising inequality between the 1%
The article “The Secret Shame of Middle-Class Americans” was featured on The Atlantic website. It was published in the May 2016 print issue of the magazines under the heading Business. The article was written by Neal Gabler. This 6,800-word article was written about the both the personal financial struggles of the author and general financial struggles of the American middle-class that are so often masked. According to the author, the article was inspired by a statistic published by the Federal Reserve Board: “47 percent of respondents said that either they would cover the expense by borrowing or selling something, or they would not be able to come up with the $400 at all.”
“The policies of the Reagan and first Bush administrations, which openly favored the rich, abetted a secular trend already in motion, causing inequality to increase measurably between 1981 and 1992.” (Loewen, 215) The wealthy already had their advantage when they gained their wealth. The wealth they had helped greatly in the process
McClelland’s article “RIP the Middle Class” was published September 20th 2013 in a salon, which is an online news site that publishes pieces that includes fearless commentary and criticism point of views. McClelland’s Rhetorical statement is that big automotive cities are diminishing which is a result of losing; which as of a result of this causes the middle class to lose. The rhetorical statement that McClelland indulges to the audience is to be persuaded by the aim which is once known as the “blue-collar aristocrats” to the “blue-collared” workers. Whom struggle to pull in a national median title of “middle class.” The time era that this has taken place started in the 1970s, remembered by Americans as the “Decade That Those Forget” which blue-collared workers prospered in the middle class economy.
An interesting article was published on CNBC’s online news outlet, titled “Two-Percent Growth is a Loser for the Angry Middle Class.” The article talks about the fact that the economy is growing at about two percent and that a recession is not forthcoming, but that middle class wages are continuing to flat-line. The article details many economic issues, such as middle class wages not changing, the low GDP when compared to past years, and what should be done to fix this issue in the United States. GDP and Real GDP are discussed as well, along with the importance of GDP in the economy.
Reading through RIP, the Middle Class: 1946-2013, it became fairly obvious that the author, Edward McClelland, was presenting a thesis idea that consisted of promoting the middle class through examples of its prime time when middle class thrived. McClelland made the point clearly as he repeatedly provided examples ranging from the glory days of the assembly line industry that had provided high paying jobs for many people, to presidents who attempted to keep business within the United States to promote home grown jobs. He was especially focused on the point that the middle class was shrinking due to a large discrepancy between the wealthy and the rest of society as capitalism achieves its goal of padding the wealthiest and keeping the middle
Many solutions, such as social investment, early childhood education, job training for young adults are avenues for addressing the shrinking middle class. Many of these ideas have been around since the 1990s, and most know that they will work, however, no one wants to pay the cost of such social investments. Thus, this is a fine example of how one topic, income inequality, can be addressed from two different angles, that of economist and that of sociologists, and what contributes to the inequality can be supported based on what is actually measured. In this specific comparison, due to the differences in disciplines addressing the same issue, the variables measured are completely different and as a result, yield very different results.
“The nation's middle class, long a pillar of the U.S. economy and foundation of the American dream, has shrunk to the point where it no longer constitutes the majority of the adult population, according to a new major study” (Lee). This is showing that the American dream opportunity as a whole is shrinking. This is due to there becoming a shrinking amount of people who are middle. The Census Bureau says “41.5% of americans brought home between 35,000 and $100,000 in the year 2015” (Lee). It is still shrinking daily.
The middle class want to become rich and the low class only wants equality.” Orwell’s predictions of the party, the government in modern society, rises to power and the poor stay poor. In LA Times “Income Inequality makes the rich more scrooge-like, study finds”, “Since the 1980’s -- the end of a 30-year period… wealth has grown increasingly concentrated at the top of the economic ladder, while low-income Americans have commanded a smaller and smaller share of the nation’s wealth.” *add where quote is from* ”... top 5 percent of American families saw their real income increase 74.9 percent… the lowest-income fifth saw a decrease in real income of 12.1 percent… Sharply contrasting with the 1947-79 period… with the lowest income group actually seeing the largest gains.”
The publisher of this article is very well know in reference to the affairs of the middle class, and would be considered creditable source. Contributor, G. (2013, October 24). The Rise And Fall Of The Middle Class In America. (SB, Ed.) Retrieved June 21, 2015, from Liberal America.org:
The article says, “While the top 1 percent have seen their incomes rise 18 percent over the past decade, those in the middle have actually seen their incomes fall.” (Stiglitz 2011) While the rich are getting higher incomes prices the poor are getting higher income by taking it from the one in the middle which therefore, makes them get a lower income percentage. America has fallen behind because of not being an equal country to the population by the income equality there is a huge gap between the income being earned by the poor and the rich. The rich are wealthy and the poor depend on the government for everything. As stated in the article, “America lags behind any country in the old, ossified Europe that President George W. Bush used to deride.
Americans are embracing facts of inequalities and wage control, which has been a drawback in the American economy in the past, yet new policies have reduced inequalities by passing a law back in 2007 to raise wages, that is “Congress passed the first increase in the minimum wage within a decade” (574). That same embrace has the middle class preparing for the future by planning new strategies to educate their children about the dangers of debt to income ratio, gaps between social equality, and political power among the wealthy gaps. Also, unbalanced monetary stimulants, which have no power of motivation for some whom are after the American
In the twentieth century, one third of Americans were employed in agriculture whereas today, only 2% are (Metcalf). This is one of the effects that technology has on society. Situations like this cause an impact on income distribution because of the large number of jobs being taken away. The middle class in the U.S. has dropped by four points nationally, according to an article from Pew Research Center. This is partially due to the influence of technology on work; the middle class is decreasing because technology is capable of the medium-skill jobs.